All In Darkness
by goblinofthegreatwhitenorth
Summary: The defeat of the King of Shadows leaves the Knight Captain lost and trying to hold together what remains of his retinue of companions... a tale of what comes after the Official Campaign. Rating change to M with chapter 4 for adult situations.
1. Chapter 1

He had been expecting something much different. The silver sword rose and fell against the portal again and again. He would have sworn he could feel it crying out in agony as each stroke of the blade fell, but he heard nothing, More than that. It not only made no sound, but the silence drowned out all the noise around him. The cacophony of the battle had dimmed away to nothing with each successive blow he rained down on the quivering, convulsing gash in this reality. He could see his companions, his friends, all around him, yet he could hear only the sound of his own blood rushing through his veins.

Godfric Redspear lifted the Sword of Gith once more and with all his strength drove the blade into the portal. He could see Kelghar dashed across the floor to his side, maintaining a fast grip on his wondrous hammer and dragging himself to his feet once more. All this despite wounds which Godfric had thought no one could have survived. Casavir now was receiving the full brunt of the assault of the King of Shadows. The Paladin was driven to his knees beneath an awesome blow. Sand knelt nearby on the floor. His face a mask of agony as he traced his fingers through the air, desperately trying to concentrate despite his pain. Bloody spittle dripped from his mouth as he spoke words of power Godfric could not hear. He raised his blade once more and struck again.

Across the chamber, Elanee knelt over Grobnar's crumpled form. Godfric had not expected to gnome to give such an accounting of himself as he had. Grobnar's magic had kept them all in the fight longer than Godfric had thought possible. Elanee seemed to be trying to force a potion into the gnome's throat to little avail. What remained of Ammon Jerro lay on the stone chamber floor beyond them. The King of Shadows had brought one old foe to a final bloody end. Zhjaeve too lay in ruin on the floor. Her skin blackened and twisted as she tried to draw breath into scorched lungs.

As he lifted the silver sword once more, he looked back to Casavir and Khelgar. The King of Shadow's blade caught Casavir off his guard and smote heavily into his abdomen. Godfric shut his eyes momentarily willing himself to keep striking this blasted portal. He looked again and saw Khelgar standing over the fallen paladin, answering the Shadow Creature's blow with one of his own. A flash of silver light saw a swarm of shimmering lights streak into the King of Shadows' hide as Sand finished his evocation. Godfric thought he saw a weak grin on the elf's face as he slumped to the floor and into unconsciousness. The King of Shadows staggered back, clearly stricken by the spell. It locked it's eyes on Godfric and the portal and came at a dead run. Shifting past his allies in a blur of shadow it now sought to end him.

A moment before the blow would fall, Neeshka came out as if from nowhere and traced her blade full across the creature's torso. The King of Shadows, momentarily distracted, raised it's great crescent shaped blade and lunged violently at the tiefling. Neeshka, seemingly surprised that her gambit had worked at all, barely managed to turn aside and avoid the blow. She was shouting something at the beast. The King of Shadows seemed to take no notice of her words. It took a step towards her and raised the blade again as Godfric did the same over the portal which stubbornly still convulsed in the air before him.

Suddenly a great mass of hair and teeth interposed itself between them and the dreaded king. This new beast locked its teeth on the kings throat and bore it over. The King of Shadows struggled beneath it and slowly forced the creature back. The Illfarn Guardian's blade flashed and rent the newcomer's shoulder in a deep gash and lifeblood flowed freely from the wound.

The great hairy beast fell to one side and suddenly shrank away until all that remained was a frail elf woman bleeding from a terrible wound.

"ELANEE!" Godfric's own voice surprised him. The panicked shout was the first sound he had heard since he began striking the portal. He scrambled towards her . Blood spurted from her wound in fresh gouts and soaked the stone upon which she lay. "Gods help her please!" He half whispered to himself as he reached for her.

"Godfric, GET A GRIP!" Neeshka shouted, grabbing him and pulling him back. "We aren't all here ready to die for you just so you can lose your mind in the last seconds and forget why we're here! I'll help her. You finish that portal!"

Godfric struggled against Neeshka's grip. He saw Khelgar standing full on the King of Shadows chest smiting him again and again with the Hammer of Ironfist. He watched Elanee lying still on the floor blood flowing freely from her wound. Sand lay still as death. Casavir nearby was cloven nearly in two. Ammon, Zyjhaeve, Grobnar, all dead or dying.

And Qara. Her body lay over near the wall where her former companions had placed her. Her betrayal had stung, more out of pride than anything else. She had almost been the end of him in the battle. She would have been if Neeshka hadn't …..

Done what needed to be done.

"Godfric, PLEEASE!! " Neeshka pleaded, trying to drag him back to the portal.

"Help her Neeshka." Godfric fiercely intoned as he stopped struggling. Neeshka released his neck and darted past him to Elanee's side on the floor.

Godfric turned his back on them all. His friends and his enemy, and raised the silver sword of Gith above his head.

---

The blade fell.

For a moment, all the sound in the world went away again. The cries of battle , the clashing weapons, even the sound of his own breath. Again he could feel the palpable agony of the portal. He could hear only the deafening silence.

Then all hells broke loose.

The blade seemed to briefly lodge in the portal itself. And then it exploded in darkness. There was a great guttural cry behind him as the King of Shadows, the Illfarn guardian seemed to crack and burst at the seams. Wisps ,at first , and then a flood, of darkness and shadow poured forth.

It surrounded and swallowed everything.

How long it was that Godfric stared into the darkness utterly alone he was not sure. Stones jutted into the back of his head and his armour pinched uncomfortably. A sharp crease in his armour jutted into his ribs, and a sticky sensation told him he had bled quite a bit. Sounds echoed around him, maybe he wasn't alone. Godfric winced as he pushed himself up till he was seated on the ground. He felt his ribs twinge and fresh warm liquid leaked through his side.

"Helloooooo!" The sudden sound made him startle. "By the hells 'Fric are you just going to sit there?"

"Neeshka?!? Wh-Where…" he stammered.

"Oh, of course! Just a bit here." He heard her rummaging through a pack. Soon a spark appeared, and quickly grew into a small flame. "Sorry, I just forgot. You can't see in the dark, can you?"

The dim light cast by the torch lit Neeshka's features, and she smiled weakly. He could see little. It was as if the light could not break down the darkness around them. Neeshka was kneeling at his left side. The ground upon which he lay was some kind of stone the colour of charcoal. Dark shapes were barely visible around them. Even with the torchlight he could barely make out any details.

"You alright Godfric? You look a mess." Neeshka's voice was trying to maintain it's usual timbre and cheeriness. And failing. "You gotta stop trying to save the world you know." Neeshka's smile beamed a little brighter in the torchlight when she saw him grin at that remark, and then darkened when he clutched at his side in pain as the laughter wracked his bruised and cracked ribs.

"You know…" Godfric replied dryly when he composed himself again. "I just might take that advice. Leave the world saving to the people who don't know how painful it is."

Neeshka steadied him and looked at his side. "Can you lift your arm 'Fric?" she asked, trying to inspect his wound. He made a valiant attempt, but she shook her head and muttered. "You'll need to get that armour off to have a real look, but the bleeding 's just a trickle." Godfric said nothing. His usual quips failed him for the moment.

Godfric gingerly put down his arm and looked at the tiefling . Neeshka looked pensive and distracted. She consciously avoided his gaze. "What happened Neeshka? What about the rest?" Neeshka flinched and a nervous smile formed on her face.

"They're here too Godfric. Come with me." The Tiefling took him by the arm and helped him up.

"Gods! Its so dark…" he muttered " I can't see my own feet."

Neeshka led him stumbling through the dark a short way and then motioned him towards a familiar shape on the ground. The torchlight was inadequate to see but the stature was unmistakable. Godfric knelt down and peered through the darkness. Neeshka held the light low.

"Lad? 'ssat you?" The dwarf was barely more than whispering. "Bout time too…." A cough racked his grim face with pain.

"Khelgar! You crazed dwarf! you're alive…" Godfric's grin left his face as he observed the condition of the dwarf. The wound in Khelgar's chest which Godfric had been wondering how he could possibly survive, had evidently been as bad as he had surmised. Khelgar's face was ashen. "Hold on my friend. We'll get you some help."

Godfric smiled as convincingly he could at Khelgar and looked up at Neeshka. She slowly shook her head and her eye's glistened with tears. The smile faded quickly from Godfric's face.

"We won lad. We beat that thing." Khelgar looked almost pleased with himself. "Some of us even got to die like heroes…" Godfric couldn't look the dwarf in the face any longer.

"Ah don't bother yerself wit' me." Khelgar coughed again. " Neeshka's done her best fer us all."

"Khelgar, I… we…" Neeshka seem to be at a loss for words.

"Ah ye silly goat. Don' ye be wastin' tears on me. You see to the others and just let me go." Khelgar clasped both their hands in his and laughed softly. " I'm just needin' a little sleep 's all."

"Why you short… runty… Hells! why do I put up with you?" Neeshka sounded stern but tears now flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Tail fer brains…." Khelgar smiled as he trailed off. His laboured breathing became very shallow after a few moments.

Godfric swallowed hard. He looked at Neeshka. "Others?" One word was all he could manage.

Neeshka nodded abruptly and wiped her cheeks with her palms. "Sand and Elanee, " she replied.

Godfric's heart leapt. "Where? " he scrambled to get up.

"Sand is unconscious. Has been since we arrived. Didn't seem to be… dying, anyhow." Neeshka was speaking in short bursts separated by gulping breaths. She passed the torch low over the comatose elf. His skin was paler than usual, but his chest rose and fell steadily. Clumsy bandages covered a few wounds.

"And Elanee?' Godfric read the look in Neeshka's face and feared to worst. Neeshka breathed in a couple deep breaths. She looked almost as frightened now, as when Garius had bound her to his will in the portal chamber. 'when she thought she was going to betray me…' Godfric thought.

"Alive…" Neeshka said quietly. "I had a healing potion left. I fed it to her as you destroyed the portal." Neeshka covered her mouth with her hand. "I don't know what I did though, she won't snap out of it…"

Neeshka dropped to her knees near another shape on the ground. "Snap out of what?" Godfric heard the panic in his voice again. He closed his eyes, and got up slowly.

Godfric crouched down at Elanee's side across from Neeshka. In the torchlight, Godfric could see Elanee's eyes staring into the darkness. They darted back and forth every few moments. Her face twitched as if in pain and she did not seem to register their presence.

"It's like a bad dream or something. I don't know, but she won't wake up." Neeshka hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. "I'm so sorry…." she was sobbing.

Godfric wrenched his gauntlets off his hands and threw them to his side. He put a hand to Elanee's forehead. It was cold and clammy. He could feel every twitch and gasp for breath she made. Neeshka rocked back and forth still clutching her knees.

Godfric reached out with both hands and gently placed them on Neeshka's tear streaked cheeks.

"Thank you Neeshka…" He couldn't think of anything more to say.

A wracking cough from Khelgar wrenched them away from the moment and they both rushed to his side.

The dwarf's breathing was fitful and shallow. Neeshka slipped her right hand into the dwarfs left and Godfric grasped the dwarf's right hand with his own.

Godfric reached out with his other hand and clasped it over Neeshka's as Khelgar slipped away in the darkness.

---


	2. Chapter 2

---

"Hold still farmboy. This might sting... a bit."

Godfric winced sharply and bit down on an arrow shaft as the tiefling prodded his side where he had been wounded. Neeshka had already pulled several shards of metal from the ragged tear in his flesh. His cuirass lay discarded with a horrific rent in the side. Neeshka extracted a wicked looking hand-span long metal fragment. The silvery metal looked half melted and blackened flesh clung to it. Fresh warm wetness streamed down Godfric's side.

The tiefling pushed a fresh bit of cloth into the gash to stop the new bleeding. Pain throbbed through his ribs with every breath. It certainly didn't help that he found himself unable to keep from laughing.

"There ya go Captain. Thats the worst of it. The rest of them are just little slivers..." Neeshka smiled

encouragingly.

"You're enjoying this too much Neeshka...Ahh HELLS this hurts!" Godfric stifled his own laughter at this predicament as it reminded him of the cracked ribs Neeshka was pressing on.Godfric tried to adjust his eyes to the dim torchlight and craned his neck to see what she was doing. The exertion brought the pain to a wicked crescendo and he dropped his head to the ground again. "Just some little slivers left? How many?"

Neeshka pulled away the bandage for a quick peek and again blood flowed freely from the wound. She

pressed the bandage down again, hard. Godfric groaned out loud and laughed very painfully again.

"Just a couple... two or three... dozen... left - Oh I'm sorry 'Fric I- HEY!?!" Neeshka startled violently and Godfric was almost positive he felt a lung collapse. He began laughing in painful spasms again.

"Not one... of my best thought out plans..." he groaned between spasms and coughing fits as he waggled the arrow he had been biting down on in front of Neeshka. The tiefling swore quietly and rubbed the sore spot on her backside where he had just jabbed her. She placed her hand palm down on Godfric's chest and grabbed a good handfull of the sparse hair growing there. A slight tug had Godfric cringing. He dropped the arrow and put his hand up in submisssion.

"I think you picked the one spot I didn't have a bruise yet." Neeshka complained. "My bedside manner is going to get a lot worse if you keep that up 'Fric." The corner of her mouth turned up slyly. She gave another tug for good measure.

"OW! I give! I give!" Godfric was still struggling to stop laughing as his ribs felt like someone was prying them loose from his body.

Neeshka narrowed her eyes and smirked at him. She released her grip and teasingly stroked her fingernails across his chest as she turned her attention back to his wound. He seemed to calm down for the moment, so the tiefling resumed her hunt for the fragments which were scattered throughout his side.

---

Godfric watched in the dim light as Neeshka tied the bandages tightly around his chest. He occaisionally offered assistance in tightening the knots, but Neeshka's deft fingers did most of the work quickly and efficiently. He stared off into the darkness.

"Where do you think we are?" he asked. Hells, how did he expect her to have an answer. All around them was this damned darkness. Even Neeshka with her infernal gifts could see little in the distance. Just more darkness.

The tiefling didn't look him in the eyes. She shrugged and shook her head. "I dunno 'Fric. I suppose we could be on one of the outer planes. Maybe we were sucked through the portal when it collapsed. Maybe the whole Ilefarn temple collapsed into some huge cavern in the underdark." She didn't pause at all between different thoughts. Her nerves were getting the better of her. "I, I think we're lost farmboy." She briefly glanced into his eyes and her bottom lip quivered. She looked back down and pretended to inspect her knots for a third time.

Godfric closed his eyes. He had led all his friend to ruin. How many dead? He sighed and felt his throat tighten. "I'm sorry..." he breathed, barely more than a whisper. "It should have been just me. They didn't have to die, and you didn't have to be here with me." He winced as his chest wracked with pain. Shuddering breaths betrayed the fact that he was losing his composure. Damnit! he needed to be strong for his friends. He couldn't fall apart now. He tried to pull himself into a sitting position, to force himself through this. He could handle tears of pain, but not grief.

The pain in his side was too much. He collapsed back and found himself caught. His head cradled in the tiefling's lap. She stroked his brow and hummed soothingly as he sobbed quietly. His head swam and soon his conciousness began to drift. Neeshka's melodic humming recalled words to the fore of his thoughts.

"Whitethistle, whitethistle..."

---

When he awoke, he found himself wrapped in his old harvest cloak. The warm wool soothed him and the scent reminded him of home. It was pitch black. He wondered if his eyes were actually open or not. His side ached, but he could bear the pain. He listened for any sound other than the pounding in his own head. Nothing.

Godfric gritted his teeth and cautiously rolled to one side. He braced his arm beneath him and pushed himself up. Waves of pain and nausea hit him as he managed to sit upright. He gulped air and breathed shallowly to avoid throwing up.

As his stomach settled he curled his knees to one side, and pushed himself onto his knees. Godfric bowed his head and clasped his hands together. Closing his eyes, he invoked a prayer to the Morning Lord and sought for his guidance in the emptiness around him. He hoped that Lathander would hear his prayer.

Opening his eyes once more, -maybe he was blind now, he still could see nothing.- He held his palms against his side and chanted blessings of his god. He felt warmth in his side, tingling, wetness - Hells, he was bleeding again. This wasn't working.

And then, as he was about to give up, he felt the tell-tale tingling in his side and warmth spreading from his hands into the wound. Abruptly he stopped. The extent of his ability to heal was limited. He wished he had not expended it fighting the King of Shadows. Maybe then he could have helped... He could have saved Khelgar. Godfric tested his strength and found he could bear to stand. The wound felt stiff, but it was closed.

Once on his feet, Godfric realized that he didn't know where he nor anything else was. He couldn't see his own hand waved in front of his face. He had intended to check on Elanee and Sand. Unable to see, he could wander in completely the wrong direction, groping around in the dark like an idiot. What a mess. He felt completely helpless. He put his hands out before him and stepped forward, testing the ground with his toes as he went. After a dozen such steps, and not a single clue as to his surroundings, he sat again. Sat and waited.

---

"Hey farmboy! You're awake."

Godfric nearly jumped out of his skin. He had been listening for any sign that the tiefling was returning, and she had walked right up on him. "Gods Neeshka! How do you do that?!?" He cursed and got gingerly to his feet again, and held out a hand towards where he heard her voice.

Neeshka grabbed his arm as if to support him, and hooked her own around it. "Sorry 'Fric. I didn't want our last torch to burn out completely while you slept." she led him forward several cautious steps. "And I needed to ... um... move him. You know. Khelgar. Before he really started to stink and all that. SORRY!... " Godfric could imagine the stricken look on his face. "I just mean... um... well... Hells. I'm sorry Godfric. I didn't mean to sound so... " She was searching for an appropriate word. "... I'm horrible." Neeshka sniffled a little. " Here. Sit here.

Godfric lowered himself to the ground as Neeshka disappeared again. She reappeared a few moments later and a spark struck, igniting the torch once more. She held out the torch to Godfric, and when he had taken it, she began to rummage through her bags until she found a mostly clean rag with which she tried to wipe clean her face and hands. Godfric held up the torch and looked around again.

To his left were the supine forms of the two elves. Sand appeared to be resting more comfortably now. His breathing was deep and regular. He could see by the firelight that Elanee still stared into the darkness, her eyes darting about and her facial muscles twitching spasmodically. Godfric held his hand out to her lips. He barely felt any breath from her at all. Her skin was clammy to the touch. She felt alien, foreign to him. How could this be the woman with whom he had shared so much?

He felt sick. Elanee had no wound he could heal. Her body continued to live and breathe, but was she even there? He brushed her hair off her brow with his fingers. She did not react to his touch.

Godfric tried to shut her eyelids, but they flickered open again. Her eyes flitted back and forth as if seeing something that wasn't there. Godfric became aware that her tounge was writhing around in her mouth as if it were alive on it's own.

Neeshka broke the silence. "What's wrong with her, Godfric? I mean, she should've been fine. I gave her my best healing potion." She hugged her legs and put her chin on her knees. "Was I too late 'Fric? Maybe the potion was spoilt. I don't get it 'Fric. WHY DOES SHE KEEP TWITCHING LIKE THAT?!?!" Neeshka shook her hands at Elanee as if she was wringing her neck in frustration.

Godfric blinked, wondering where in hells that outburst came from. Neeshka had taken a long while to warm up to Elanee in the beginning, but he thought they had eventually gotten over their differences.

"Could you shout just a little more? The ringing in my ears has almost gone away, and I was getting so used to it..." Neeshka squealed in surprise and Godfric nearly dropped the torch right onto Elanee's skirts. Sand lifted his head slowly and grunted in pain. "...and if you don't mind, does anyone have a clue as to where in the hells we are?"

---


	3. Chapter 3

---

He couldn't sit still watching the mage any longer, so Godfric had walked away into the darkness. He kept one eye on their makeshift campsite, now illuminated by the floating magelights Sand had conjured. The mage sat ruminating over a spellbook which had survived mostly intact, and only noticably moved when he turned a page. Godfric walked on, keeping the lights in sight as he tracked in a mostly circular fashion all around the camp. The terrain was flat and easy enough to navigate, even in the near complete darkness. His stomach growled a complaint at him. He thought of the meager supply of food they had, and wondered how long they could last.

"Hells and bloody guts." Godfric cursed aloud. He banished thought of dried fruits and jerky and imagined a big steaming pork tortiere like Rhetta Starling used to make. His mouth watered as he remembered the spiced black plum sauce she would serve on the side. He bet he could have bought Lorne's loyalty with an offer of tortiere and plum sauce.

_'I'll tear your head off and feed your entrails to these Neverwinter dogs...' Lorne would threaten._

_'But Lorne...' he would say, 'Why don't we sit down and talk things out... I brought some of your mothers' pork pies... See?' _

_'Mum's tortiere? Really?' Lorne's eyes would grow wide like saucers. The massive falchion lowers ever so slightly... 'Is there spiced plums?'_

Godfric grinned. Nasher would have probably made him Knight Captain just for the recipe. His stomach groaned again.

"Quiet you..." he told his stomach.

---

Eventually Godfric noticed that he had walked a complete circuit around the camp. He sighed and turned back towards the light. Hopefully Sand would be in better spirits once he'd had some peace and quiet. The Elf mage had a particlarly sharp tounge, and had not been easy to get along with. Neeshka had become fed up and stormed off. Godfric tried to follow, but had lost sight of her too quickly.

Godfric's feet felt leaden and he walked the last hundred feet back to camp.

Sand's eyes fell on him as he approached.Godfric said nothing, and Sand gave a wry smile and looked back to his notes. Godfric sat beside his old satchel and searched through it. He found the bundle he was looking for, and unwrapped a few pieces of salted pork jerky. He tucked one piece between his teeth, and proffered another to the elf. Sand began to wave him off, but upon a second thought, took the offering and began to chew it with only a mildly repulsed look on his face.

Godfric re-wrapped the rest of the jerky and put the remainder away. He grabbed the end hanging from his mouth, and bit off a small piece. There was an art to eating pork jerky. Small pieces, and chew slowly. Let your saliva do the work of softening it up for you.

"Ah... one of your swamp delicacies I assume?" said Sand in between masticating a small piece of dried meat. "The rancid taste completely overwhelms the horrific texture you know. One could almost imagine they were eating an old boot."

"Maybe a fishermans boot." Godfric replied. "Explains the salt anyhow.

Sand bit off another piece and continued. "You know, It's really not the worst I've eaten. Your Uncle tried to prepare baked eel at the Flagon on one occaision." Sand shuddered involuntarily."That was the most foul concoction imagineable." He complained emphatically.

"I could go for some of his chicken and dumpling stew right now." Godfric dreamily replied. "Or Rhetta Starling's pork pies..."

"If you continue to bring up those damned pork pies, I'll cast a permanent silence on you." Sand threatened mildly. "I can't fathom the attraction of a dish made with the end cuts of an animal which wallows in filth, all slapped in a greasy pastry. " He looked forlornly at the jerky in his hand. "Of course, I am now going to assume I am eating probably end cuts of said filth wallowing animal, aren't I?"

Godfric couldn't help but grin at Sand. The elf sagged his shoulders and took another small bite of the jerky. He chewed ever so slowly in a self defeated fashion.

Neeshka strode out of the darkness at that point and stopped. She looked expectantly at Godfric, who rummaged through his satchel again, and tossed the tiefling a piece of the dried meat. Neeshka tore into the jerky and chewed it much too quickly to be comfortable.

"And so she returns..." Sand purred melodramatically. He bit off another piece and sarcastically wondered, "Did we finish our little snit yet?" The tiefling's eyes shot daggers at the mage. She looked as if she might follow with a few real daggers.

"Sand?" said Godfric." Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with pig arse-hole in your mouth?"

The wizard stared horrified with widening eyes at the last morsel he held in his hand.

After a strangled whimper escaped from the elf's throat, Neeshka burst into gales of laughter. Her giggling was infectious and soon Godfric joined in. It wasn't long before the elf was holding his sides as he too could not maintain his composure.

---

Godfric was getting to like the darkness. Sand stuck close to camp, and the illumination his magelights provided acted as a beacon for them if they wandered away. Godfric liked how he could sit all by himself and watch the lights from a distance. It made him feel like he wasn't surrounded by the void. Instead that he could become part of it, and be looking in. It made his world seem small and safe. He could protect that little spot of ground. The only problem he still had was...

"Hey Farmboy..." Neeshka plopped down beside him and he nearly fell over.

"Hells Neeshka!" He fought to get his rapid heartbeat under control. "I'm going to tie cowbells on your feet if you don't stop sneaking up on me." He looked into the darkness and could see nothing but the faintest hint that she was there at all.

"Oh, you love it 'Fric." Neeshka teased. "Gotta keep you on your toes, Farmboy. Never know what might be lurking out there in the darkness." He could hear the smile in her voice. It was comforting to know that she could still smile after all that had happened.

"As far as I can tell," Godfric joked back, "The most dangerous thing lurking out here in the darkness, is some half crazed tiefling who likes to scare people half to death."

Neeshka giggled."And some lunatic farmer who likes to stab girls in the ass end with arrows..." She leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder. Godfric leaned into her too.

"It's not my fault you make such a tempting target. I'm just glad I had an arrow handy, or I could have been in real trouble." Godfric felt Neeshka lean away from him as he finished. The tiefling was looking at him. He knew it even though he could not see much at all. "What?" he asked. "I say something wrong?"

Neeshka stared at Godfric. He was doing his best to find her in the dark, but only succeeded in staring over her head. She studied his face which was a mix of bewilderment and concern. It was so hard to read him sometimes. Other times he was an open book. What was he doing here? Joking and flirting

while the woman he loves lies possibly dying not a hundred steps away? Sometimes she thought he was a little mad.

"Are you scared farmboy?" Neeshka asked him in a small, quiet voice.

Godfric's gaze dropped to his feet and he hunched forward. "Wouldn't say scared exactly." he muttered "Maybe a little. Mostly frustrated though." He found her hand by chance in the darkness and held it firmly in both of his hands. "Why did you follow me Neeshka?" He asked. "You swore no oaths to me or anyone. You stayed even while I traipsed around in a watchmans cloak." he grinned. " I know you hated it. I could barely stand it myself." He opened his hands and held them palms upward, as if setting her hand free. She did not take it away. Godfric fixed his eyes on the distant campsite. They hardened ever so slightlyand very deliberately he asked "Did she follow me because she loved me, or did she love me because she followed me?"

Neeshka closed her eyes and swallowed. She closed her hand around his own. "Fric... I followed you for a dozen reasons." She started with the easy ones. "Self preservation was the first, plus I always made lots of coin around you." She grinned at him, but he didn't react. Stupid darkness. "Plus you were nice to me. No one was ever nice to me like that." He smirked and his eyes became softer. "Then there was your naieve little farmboy ways nearly getting you killed in the big city."She nudged him with an elbow. "I couldn't let that happen."

Neeshka began to sound a little more serious. "I think I took advantage of you though. When you helped me with Leldon." She was fidgiting with his hand, playing with his fingers. "I'm sorry, I got you into a whole lot of messes that you didn't need to get involved with." Neeshka searched his face for some sign of his current state of mind, but he seemed just focus on what she was doing with his hand. "But you never complained though." she continued. "even when I know I wasn't making much sense, you jumped right in to help me. Drove Elanee round the bloody bend." She sniggered as he smiled and rolled his eyes.

"I needed some escape from all the law abiding-ness that was going on." Godfric grinned "Did I just make up a new word? Law abiding-ness?" Neeshka jerk him halfway over by the hand as she laughed.

"BE SERIOUS!" She said hardly supressing her giggles. She paused for a second wiping her eyes and cleared her throat. "I'm having a hard enough time saying this without you making it a big joke..."

Neeshka settled herself and paused again, searching for the words.

"I guess at first I followed you because I thought I owed you. But I could never settle that sort of debt with you. You're never finished your part. I mean, if I tried to keep tally, I'd be so far in your debt I'd have to mortgage my soul to pay you back." Now Neeshka saw he had that puzzled look he got when he had just figured out what you had said, and was trying to decide if you meant it. "I do mean that Godfric. Honestly."

"You don't owe me anything. I ..." Godfric awnswered, but Neeshka cut him off with a fingertip on his lips.

"Like I said farmboy, I quit playing the who owes who game a long time ago." Neeshka's voice took on a deadly serious tone. "I stuck by you because, quite simply, you were the best friend I've ever had." She dropped the comment like it was a live eel that she wanted off her hands as quickly as possible.

"Neeshka I don't... I was... I feel like... GODS!" Godfric broke into a wide grin and laughed silently, but his whole body was shaking with the effort of keeping quiet. "You say that like it's some sort of disease!"

"Don't you laugh at me, or I'll..." She grunted playfully through clenched teeth. Neeshka pounced up and shoved Godfric over onto his back. Still having a grip on her hands, she was pulled over as well , and landed unceremoniously atop of him. One of her knees rested between his legs while the other fell beside his hip. Their hands were still entwined above his shoulders, and her body was pressed against his.

Neeshka's breath caught in her throat as she stopped with his face barely an inch from her own. He struggled half heartedly against her grip and his face shifted from laughter to some sort of confused expression, which she could not quite read.

A mere moment passed with a thousand thoughts rushing through Neeshka's mind. Godfric let go of her hands and she pushed herself up. Her right hand resting in the middle of his bare chest as she did. Her fingers slid through the hair on his chest again, this time without malicious intent. As she moved away, she saw him close his eyes and turn his face away, as he ever so lightly bit down on his bottom lip. He drew in a breath and held it as she got up. She became concious of the fact that she was shaking, and still holding her breath.

Neeshka hopped up and turned her back on her prone friend. "No layin' around 'Fric." She blurted out. "How 'bout we go see what Sand's come up with?" She walked off quickly without another word.

Godfric pushed himself back to a sitting position, and pressed a palm firmly into his forehead. The pounding slowly subsided. He stared into the darkness after the tiefling and could make out her shillouette as she made her way back to the camp.

'_Damn!_' he cursed silently.


	4. Chapter 4

---

For all the world, he could not wrap his brain around this dilemma. Sand blinked and rubbed his chin. He had been pouring over his tomes for so long that his eyes felt like they were filled with grit. He cursed that he did not have his personal library or even the one at Crossroad Keep. Maybe then he could find something useful. All he had brought with him were his book of spells, and his personal journal. Maybe he could find something in one of the spell theorems or histories that would give him some hint as to what had happened to them. Or maybe a means to divine their current location.

His one and only suggestion so far had been roughly shot down. He had to admit that animating the dwarf's corpse and commanding it to trudge off, or shamble or whatever the walking dead do, was a trifle grisly. But he had tried to argue that if he adhered a continual magelight to Khelgar's head, they could maybe see just what was out there in the distance. So far as they were able to tell, the ground was flat and barren of any feature in every direction.

_'They'll think it's a fine idea when that reek gets a little stronger' _Sand told himself. He sniffed and wrinkled his nose. He could sense the putrifacton on the air already, but the human and the tiefling were oblivious to it so far. Neeshka had done her best to drag the dwarf a fair distance away, but as time passed, the malodourous taint in the air encroached on Sand's keen sense like an approaching storm.

He wondered where those two had gotten off to. His contant companion of late seemed to be the catatonic wood elf. Her twitching was only mildly distracting, but she had of late taken to making strange gutteral noises and strangled gasps. He looked up from a treatise on summoning and the use of various protective circles to contain infernal entities – '_Mental note- try on the tiefling..._' and settled his eyes on Elanee. Neeshka had been rather insistant on him discovering what caused her current state, and Godfric seemed rather unwilling to discuss her at all. He certainly thought that was strange, considering he could smell the harbourman's reek all over the pretty wood elf.

"Well my lady fair, there is certainly no accounting for ones tastes." he said aloud. She showed no sign that she even registered the sound of his voice. He set his books aside for the moment and moved to her side. "Must be all that _feral_ living renders your self control inactive, hmm?" he condescended.

Sand pressed the backs of his fingers against Elanee's forehead. It was cooler than it should be. He placed the pad of his middle finger aside of her left eye. He felt a strong pulse there, but abnormal. Her heart was beating like war drums, slowly and methodically. Not erratic at all, unlike her twitching movements. So far, he was at a loss to explain it.

He became aware of the approach of the Knight Captain and the tiefling long before he let on that he heard them. The Captain had foregone his usual hobnailed boots and armour, so he no longer sounded like an approaching kettle merchant, but still the elf could hear his heavy foot steps. Neeshka was preternaturally stealthy. Even his acute hearing failed sometimes to register her approach, when she was alone. As she was within earshot of a hapless victim, he could hear her harpy shriek a mile off.

And then the smell...

"...It was easier to do than you'd want it to be, I mean. Here I was, fresh from fighting off the entire will of a dead civilization. Plus Garius _tortured_ me half to death and she jumps up like a happy school girl. -_'Oh yoo hooo!! Mr. Garius, I'd so much like to join your side and betray all these nice folk whom have dragged me along and saved my butt over and over again...'. _I mean, even if you didn't want to kill her already..." Neeshka never seemed to pause for a breath. "So I just did it. Well, Sand helped too, his fireworks toasted her marshmallows a bit, but she never got a spell off after I caught up with her." She broke off and tried to figure out what was causing Sand to cover his face and turn a greenish shade.

Godfric looked puzzled as well. "Sand? Are you ill?"

"_By all that is unholy in the nine hells, What the blazes have you two gotten into!?!_" Sand hissed through his teeth and began to gulp air through his mouth.

"Well, you were complaining and all, you know." Neeshka piped up. "And we didn't want you taking matters into your own hands and doing what you had suggested earlier," she stated matter-of-factly. "so we moved him."

"You're telling me that you went and moved a body that's three days dead? Do you two understand _what you smell like_?" His eyes were tear-ing up. Sand scrambled over to Godfrics pack, and rummaged through it until he retrieved a small piece of the vile pork jerky. He held it to his nose and breathed in deeply. It's strong scent provided some relief. "You and your silly prejiduces against the unliving, Godfric. One simple spell..." Sand didn't finish as he was gagging again.

"I gather that this may not have been so well thought out." the harbourman sniffed himself and grimaced. "But it would only have gotten worse, wouldn't it?" He gave the elf a smug satisfied look.

Sand retreated a short distance away, and gulped air like a drowning man. "Alright listen." he spat angrily. "I am going to walk five hundred paces that way." He waved an arm in a seemingly random direction. "You two will follow me shortly." Sand opened his pouch and retrieved a large scroll from

an impossibly small hidden pocket. Sand trudged off in his chosen direction "When you get there you will know what to do. At least I hope you will. It's not like you've ever shown any evidence of being civilized before." he half shouted at them over his shoulder. The elf disappeared in the darkness.

"We don't smell that bad..." Godfric told himself out loud. He looked at Neeshka who gave him a slow affirmative nod of the head.

"Yeah 'Fric." she grinned. "We smell that bad."

---

The note they found when they arrived read simply...

_'Quickly please. If the spell lasts a half of an hour, I would be greatly surprised. If you're not sure how to use this, Godfric – Ask the tiefling. As rough as she appears to be, I'm certain she has used one in the past.--_

_Sand_

They found the note propped up against the side of a large brass basin, filled with steaming water and soapy bubbles, big enough for two. A glowing magelight hovered a few feet above the water.

"I'm going to turn him on his head and drown him in it." Godfric groaned. "It smells like bloody flowers." He turned to look helplessly at Neeshka, but whipped his head back the other way when he realized she was already unbuckling straps and removing her leathers. "I guess you're going first then? I'll cover my eyes while..." He slapped his hands over his eyes.

He heard the sound of Neeshka's leather armour dropping to the ground. And more unbuckling. "If you think we are going to have time to bathe separately, _and_ wash our clothes, farmboy," She said with a giggle."I'm sure Sand will find a way to burn the smell off of you. Me?" she declared. "I'm having a bath."

Godfric's eyes unwittingly found a gap in his fingers, just as Neeshka was sliding into the tub. He took in the sight of her lovely form and her curves as she sank to her collarbone in the steaming water. The skin of her back was marred by welts and dark bruises from her torture at the hands of Garius. "Oh Neeshka, your back..." Then he realized what he was doing. He clamped his hands down tight.

"You looked!" Neeshka was laughing. "Well I hope you liked what you saw 'Fric." He dared another look. Neeshka was in the water to her neck against the far side of the tub. Soap bubbles hung off her chin and hugged her shoulders. "Well you'd better get in. The water is perfect farmboy, and you're running out of time." With that she sank right under the water. She reappeared a moment later, spluttering and pushed her hair back from her face and wiped the water from her eyes.

Godfric stood there looking helpless, so Neeshka stuck out her tongue at him and covered her eyes. He pulled off his cloak, kicked off his boots, and began to unbuckle his belt. A quick glance at Neeshka caught her wide grin and her eyes dissappearing behind her fingers again. Godfric turned around and with his back to her, dropped his trews to the ground. He could not help but grin as he heard the tiefling's, poorly stifled, sharp intake of breath. He glanced back over his shoulder and holding his clothes in front of himself like a shield, made sure the tiefling's eyes were shut tight as he climbed over the side.

The water was hot for his taste, and he had a bit of a painful time lowering his nethers into the bath. He cringed and just let himself fall into the tub. Exposure at this point would be quite telling. Water sloshed up and over the side sending Neeshka bobbing up and down at the other end, her toes brushing up against his thigh._ 'Well', _he thought._ 'Big enough for two people who are VERY friendly with each other.' _Their knees nearly reached eachother a little passed the middle of the tub, and their lower legs had to mesh amongst one another.

Neeshka uncovered her eyes and grinned at him, sinking to her chin in the bubbles. Her hair plastered itself down the sides of her face and gained a bit of curl when wet. It hung over the ends of her horns like the brim of some strange hat. "You're turning bright red 'Fric, or is that just the hot water?" Neeshka purred. Godfric reached back and loosened the leather thong from his braid. He shook his hair loose and plugged his nose for a dunk under the water. To make room, Neeshka pushed herself back, rising out of the water up to her strategically placed tail.

As Godfric plunged under the water, he seemed to forget where he was and gasped, sucking a large volume of hot soapy water into his lungs. He lurched back up out of the water and coughed spraying water and soapy bubbles all over his bathing companion. Neeshka shrieked with laughter and splashed water back up and over Godfric's head. He leaned half out of the tub sputtering water and soap from his mouth.

Neeshka, who had sunk back to her collarbone again,was still laughing, albeit in a more subdued manner, as he settled back into the tub still coughing lightly. He wiped the soap from his face and grinned sheepishly at the tiefling. "Well now that I've nearly drowned, maybe I can try that again." He held his breath and slid slowly under the water. The water level in the tub approached the brim, dangerously close to overflowing. Neeshka watched him dissappear, and closed her eyes. The hot water was making her flush, and maybe, she thought, this wasn't such a great idea right now.

Godfric's lean muscled legs had slid right up against hers under the bubbles covering the surface. In several places the foamy carpet had disappeared slightly giving hints as to what lay below. She guessed that if she 'accidentally' moved her hand a little to the left... No, she didn't want to half drown him again. Not yet anyway.

_'Get a hold of yourself girl.' _Neeshka splashed water into her face. She pulled her hair back away from her face and turned herself around so she was leaning forward against her side of the tub, her knees tucked up underneath her. Godfric's feet were either side of her, against the walls of the tub. She closed her eyes and listened to him come up for air. She imagined the water dripping down in rivulets, his dark brown hair clinging to his shoulder muscles and his neck. Soap bubbles decorating the hair on his chest. Her tail thrashed involuntarily and ended up curling around his knee momentarily. She deliberately willed it to let go, and it seemed for a moment it was going to defy her concious thought. Gently then, it slipped back to the bottom of the tub and she curled it around her feet. She wanted to lose herself in this daydream. Instead, she rested her chin on the rim of the tub and stared off into the darkness.

Godfric felt Neeshka's tail loop around his leg momentarily and then almost reluctantly let go. He opened his eyes once enough water had run away and looked at her. She was curled up at the far end of the tub, leaning over the edge. Her tail was out of sight below the water. Godfric knew from experience, if she was keeping her tail under control, then she was hiding something from him. Again he noticed the reddened welts and bruises. The physical reminder of her torture at the hands of Black Garius. He could only imagine what she went through, being bound by her infernal blood to the ancient spells of Illefarn. How she broke free from that must have taken an amazing force of will. A quality Neeshka had rarely shown in abundance. Was it simply loyalty, or something more?

He couldn't heal the wounds to her soul, but he could do something about her wounded back. Godfric leaned forward and twisted onto his knees. He whispered a brief prayer to the Morning Lord, and softly placed his hands on her back. Neeshka jumped at his touch, but he held firm. "Godfric? What are you...?!? Oh!" she yelped in surprise. A soothing warmth quickly spread from his hands into her skin. At first she tried to retreat from him, but as the feeling spread, she practically melted under his touch. Her tail thrashed of its own accord, lashed against his chest and curled around his back. He watched the welts and bruises slowly vanish from her skin, leaving it perfect and unblemished. As the last of the marks disappeared he felt her quiver under his touch. He heard her gasp for breath and saw her knuckles whiten where she gripped the tub wall.

Godfric slowly lifted his hands from Neeshka's back. She made a sound, maybe a sort of question if it had contained any word of any language. Not quite a moan, but not far off either.

"Neeshka? Are you alright?" he asked quietly. "I mean, that shouldn't have hurt. It was just healing. Kind of like Casavir would have..." He trailed off. Her reaction had been almost like...

Her eyes locked on his with a bewildered, hungry look. "THAT..." she said emphatically. "was NOTHING like what Casavir used to do."

---


	5. Chapter 5

---

Neeshka's ragged breathing, and the sound of the water lapping were, for the moment, the only sounds in the world it seemed. Neeshka was staring into his eyes with a wary, predatory look. He felt hunted, bewildered and strangely exited. Her skin flushed and she sturned towards him and his eyes widened as she made not the slightest attempt to cover herself.

Godfric suddenly found himself being thoroughly kissed. The watter surged all around him and sloshed up and over the sides of the tub. Neeshka had practically leapt on him and was now pressing her lips to his, searching his mouth with her tongue. He also found himself responding in kind, reaching out and taking her in his arms. Then as suddenly as she had pounced on him, she pulled away and slapped him hard accross the cheek. His head bounced off the side of the tub, and everything momentarily disappeared in a flash of light. The water sloshed around him and he tasted blood in his mouth.. "Oww!?! What are you...?! His words were cut off as her lips found his again and her hands began to roam all over his body. He quickly forgot all about the slap. He could forget about anything right now...

"_Can I forget? Is it that easy?"_

He froze instantly and his eyes widened. Neeshka seemed, similarly, to be coming to her senses. Her eyes were widening and her mouth was moving, but no sound was forthcoming.The closeness of their bodies had rendered hiding his excitement a moot point. She slowly began to back away from him, sinking lower into the bath as a look of abject horror darkened her face. "Hells, I'm sorry 'Fric. I don't know what's got into me." she said in a small voice. The tiefling looked as if she might get up out of the tub and bolt.

A thousand thoughts rushed through his mind. All the things he had felt since they had met. From the flush he felt when she flirted with him for the first time, to the nagging guilt he felt when he had taken Elanee to his bed now five nights ago. And what about Elanee? She was still there, a few hundred yards away, and only the Gods know if she will ever recover. Neeshka's eyes welled with tears as she made an attempt to cover herself and started to get up and out of the tub._'You idiot!' _he told himself, _'Don't let her go like this!'_

Godfric reached out and caught Neeshka by the hand. She tugged against his grip, but he held her firmly. Neeshka gave him a look of longing and regret. She stopped pulling away, and settled back into the water. He pulled his knees underneath him and pulled the tiefling towards him. He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her fingers. Reaching out with his free hand, he softly touched her face, brushing away the tears tha had begun to stream doen her cheek. He slid his hand from there to the nape of her neck. Words were failing him, so he would just have to make actions count. He gently pulled her closer to him and placed his other hand on her side just below her ribcage. Her eyes fluttered closed and her lips trembled as he drew her close and kissed her. This time, she would know it was what he wanted.

Godfric kissed away the tears on her cheeks. His lips hungrily sought out the skin on her neck and he pulled her body against his once again.. Her arms once again snaked themselves around his neck and, this time, her legs around his back. They ever so gently melded together and lost themselves in the lapping waters stirred by their mutual passions.

---

"How long did Sand say the spell would last?" Godfric asked plaintively as the tiefling snuggled into his shoulder and played with his chest hair with her fingertips. She giggled as she drew a line with her fingers downward towards his abdomen, and lower still.

"I think he said half of an hour," she purred. "If we're lucky" Neeshka stretched upwards and nibbled his chin. "It's got to be getting close to that." Quickly, she slid down and rolled over, kneeling on the bottom of the tub and leaning out over the side. The water come only as high as the base of her tail.

Playfully, Godfric covered his eyes and peeked through the quite liberal spaces between his fingers. Neeshka's bosom swayed tantalizingly as she leaned down to grab their bundles of clothes. She tossed them in the tub at his feet. Then, with her back to him as she straddled his legs, shook out and scrubbed their clothing in the water. Godfric let his hands play across her back and ran them down along her hips. He grabbed hold of her tail and tugged her back towards him. She cast him a sidelong glance, grinned mischieviously and slid backwards into his lap.

"You know," she said leaning back into his neck and giving him an affectionate lick across his jawline, "This won't be so comfortable, if the tub should disappear out from under us."

"Spoilsport." he teased. He let go of her tail and let her slide back away from him. She lifted their clothes out of the water, and one by one hung each item over the side of the tub.

After she laid out the last of their clothes, she gracefully rose up out of the water. Godfric watched mesmerized as the water and bubbles slowly cascaded down the lines of her back and the curves of her legs. She delicately lifted her foot over the rim of the tub. Godfric just watched breathlessly as she slowly climbed over the side - and dropped unceremoniously to the ground as the tub and water both evapourated in an instant. The tiefling's arms flailed in the air as she went down and fell in a heap. Godfric's teeth jarred in his head as he too dropped a few inches onto the hard ground and he fell flat on his back..

"Well... That could have been a little more graceful..." Neeshka complained as she peeled herself off of the ground. She rolled over, grabbing Godfric's cloak from the ground and pulled it over her nakedness. Godfric was still laying flat on his back, naked as the day he was born and shaking with silent laughter. Neeshka picked up his britches, and tossed them haphazardly towards him, where they settled over his face.

---

Sand had returned to his books as soon as he was able. The tang of decay still hung around his nose, but he managed to ward off the worst of it with a vial of scented oil. The aromatic liquid was expensive, but in situations like this, comfort superseded frugality. He wished he had not needed to pour so much into the bathwater he had conjured, but he knew that once the spell had ended, the oil would remain effective long after. That and he just knew that the Knight Captain would appreciate smelling like gardenias _ever so much_.

A strangled noise issued from Elanee's throat. Sand leaned over and repositioned her head to clear her airway. He wondered what evil had befallen her that would do this to her. What sort affliction could have...

_'Wait,'_ he thought suddenly._'Could it be that simple?' _

Sand's mouth drew tight in a wry smile. Even if they gained nothing from this, it couldn't hurt to try. He cleared his throat to cast the spell..

---

The tiefling was unusually quiet as they dressed and walked back towards the campsite. The instant evapouration of the water meant their clothes where dry, but they were rather stiff and uncomfortable. She held his hand almost reluctantly and had a sombre look about her. She would smile at him when he met her eyes, but he noticed again that her tail was again held close and tight against her leg.

"You're wondering what happens when we get back there, aren't you?" Godfric asked quietly. She didn't need to answer him. "I'll tell you this. I know we have complicated things now, and that I can't just go back to the way things were." He was really trying to make sense, but not quite sure he was succeeding. "I just did what I have been afraid of doing for a long time. I was afraid you were too worldly for a simple farmer from West Harbour. Too wild a soul for any man to hold onto." He felt a knot growing in his stomach.

Neeshka looked at him long and hard. She lowered her eyes at last and asked, "What about Elanee, 'Fric?" The tiefling let go of his hand and quickened her pace, walking ahead of him. "You weren't afraid of her, were you?"

Godfric knew he deserved that. "I found Elanee quite pleasing to the eye, and reassuring to be around." He admitted. "She always made me feel strong. It felt good. Around you though," he added, "I felt weak in the knees, bewildered and unable to think straight."He looked at his feet. "I don't know, maybe I should have been afraid of her. She said she fell in love with me as she watched from afar, even before she really knew me." He quickened his pace to catch up with Neeshka.

"She watched you from the time you were a child? Thats kind of creepy, farmboy..." Neeshka gave him a half grin. "I don't mind that you slept with her 'Fric, but do you love her?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Yes I do." he said without hesitation. Neeshka almost stumbled as she backed away from him.

"Well you sure didn't need to think about that, did you?" she almost spat. Could she have been so wrong about him just five minutes earlier?

Godfric gave her a pained look, and swore at himself for being so forthright. I would have been easier to lie, to say Elanee had just been a fling. But he never wanted to lie to Neeshka again.

"Neeshka, I want to be clear." he stopped and told her. "I love Elanee, but I know it would never work. Hells I never even expected the chance at a life with her. That night before the battle, I thought we were all going to die." He pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "Elanee gave me the chance to feel alive for what I thought was the last time. The future doesn't seem to matter when there is no future." She still glared at him, her eyes flashed dangerously. "I know that I've made a mistake." he faltered, " and... _Hells_... Neeshka, I can't undo that mistake, and I'm sure there will be consequences, but ..."

"But what?" She asked coldly her arms folded tightly around her and her tail lashing angrily

The words were bursting to get out and finally the dam broke. "Damn it Neeshka!" he professed "I love you. I want you. Only you." He spoke in a fervent manner. "Neeshka, I think I fell in love with you a long time ago. I have the courage to fight dragons and demons and all the foulest beasts the hells can throw at me, but I never had the courage to tell you that. Elanee accused me of favouring you, of taking your side in arguments. I felt it then. Even if you didn't want to admit it, I felt like you needed me. And I wanted to be there for you. To protect you, to help you, and to share my life with you. And damn it, it scared the hell out of me to feel like that."

Neeshka blinked. Elanee had been jealous? _Wait... He loved her?!? _

"Neeshka..." Godfric took her hands in his own and pulled her to him. "I love you. And I swear to you, I'll never let anything change that." He noticed fresh tears streaming down her face.

"_You stupid, stupid, bloody farmer!!" _She practically yelled at him through her clenched teeth as she beat her fists like hammers on his chest. She reached up and entwined her fingers in his hair, pulling his head towards hers. She kissed him over and over, small pecking kisses, all over his face. She felt his strong arms wrap around her, lifting her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing with joy.

---

He had news. They were not going to like it, but it was certainly something where they had nothing before. Sand paced back and forth. Finally, he heard the approach of Godfric's footsteps. He heard no voices, so he wondered if Neeshka had gotten lost, left, or maybe the Knight Captain had drowned her. _'One could only hope...' _he thought, grinning to himself.

He was surprised then, when the two of them walked into the camp together. And further, that Godfric was clutching her hand and gazing into the tiefling's eyes like a lovesick dog. And she returned that look tenfold back.

"Oh my..." Sand blinked in disbelief. "This will certainly complicate matters, now won't it?"

---


	6. Chapter 6

---

"Oh my..." Sand blinked in disbelief. "This will certainly complicate matters, now won't it?"

Sand stared at the two of them with his haughty dissapproving look. Neeshka petulantly stuck her tongue out at the elf, and held Godfric around the waist. Godfric looked at the elf with a challenging confident air. As if he dared the Elf to say something.

"Well, it seems..."said the elf in a sarcastic tone, "to state the obvious, that there have been some developments in your ... relationship? I suppose I am at fault somewhat." He scowled at them both. "The tiefling apparently could not resist a man who bathes at least once a month."

Neeshka scowled back. "At least I'm getting some Sand. It's not like I have to resort to ogling the catatonic druid." Sand stiffened at that, and Godfric gave her a quick look that said she may have taken things a little too far. She gave Godfric a little pout, and he grinned slightly again.

"I see your witless nature was not so easily washed away." Sand gave a smarmy sneer. "Godfric. I have news regarding our current dilemma, and ..." he paused looking poisonously at Neeshka. "given the nature of the situation... We need to speak alone." Sand lengthened the last words to emphasize his point, and to make it clear, that he would not be swayed otherwise.

Neeshka bristled at that. Who was Sand to order her away without so much as a 'by your leave'? She wasn't going anywhere...

---

Neeshka sat a fair distance away, getting more anxious ny the moment. Godfric was deep in conference with that condescending moon elf and by the look of it, the news was not good. She resented being left out of the discussion. Sand was treating her like a child. And Godfric, she snorted, he says he loves her one minute, and is siding with Sand and sending her away the next. She was as capable as either of them. She could take the news as well as them. Sand refusing to tell them both the news was ludicrous. She tried to listen in, but Sand had put up a wall of silence between them. She watched intently getting more and more resentful. Godfric was going to get a piece of her mind, when she got a hold of him. If not, a piece of her foot in his ass.

She saw Godfric sway on his feet and cover his mouth with his hands. The look on his face growing from shock to abject horror. Wow, it must have been really bad news. She thought about their current predicament. Stuck in some forsaken darkness, running out of food, running out of time. She frowned. Could it get much worse than that? Godfric was shouting now. He was in full panic mode by the look of it. Sand snapped something back with an angry look on his face and Godfric got his dangerous look, as if he was going to snap the elf in two. Sand must have sensed the same, because his hand reached for his wand reflexively. The tendons in Godfrics neck were popping out and he looked positively livid.

Neeshka suddenly wondered if she really wanted to know what was going on. _'Hells'_ she thought._'We're going to die here. Starved to death. Dehydration. Resorting to cannibalism to survive... Maybe Sand just suggested we eat Elanee first??' _She permitted herself a brief grin at that.

Godfric gestured for Sand to clear off. And he stood with his back to him as the elf spoke briefly and turned away, walking deeper into the darkness. Godfric lowered himself to kneel on the ground, and clasped his hands in front.

Neeshka took this as her cue. She got to her feet and approached. The silence ebbed away as she passed through the spell barrier, and she could hear Godfric muttering under his breath. He always looked so serene when he had prayed before, but this time he looked fretful and angry. She knelt in front of him and clasped her hands around his. He flinched and started. His eyes were moist and he had a look of anger and sorrow about him. Neeshka smiled as gently as she could and pressed a kiss to her fingertips and then touched his cheek with the same.

"I guess we're pretty much finished, eh 'Fric?" She quietly asked. His eyes darted to hers with a panicked look. "I mean, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you..." She smiled sweetly." I just didn't figure on it being so short."

Godfric almost choked, and he broke into a smile and almost laughed. Tears began to stream down his face. "Neeshka..." He shook his head. "We're not going to die here. Sand thinks he can get us out."

Neeshka looked stunned. How could this be bad news? If they could escape this place, they had their whole lives ahead of them, together. Her head swam with joy as she looked into Godfric's eyes. That joy was reflected in them, but was muted with deep sorrow and regret as well. Neeshka began to feel uneasy. There was more to it than that. Neeshka's face hardened. "Tell me what's wrong farmer." she said simply.

"Sand says we are in some kind of pocket? A pocket plane? " Godfric struggled with the concept.

"A pocket dimension." Neeshka corrected and Godfric nodded.

"Thats what he said. It is the prison of the King of Shadows, created centuries ago to trap him." He continued explaining. Neeshka got a worried look. "But we're not trapped." said Godfric quickly. He still was trying to get the concept. "He said it was like the truenames. The prison is attuned to the King of Shadows, not to us."

Neeshka grasped the conept quicker than he did. "So Sand can get us out of here?" she asked? "So what is our problem?" She looked expectantly at her farmboy as he struggled with the words.

"It's my problem." he said finally. "It's Elanee." The harbourman looked down to his hands clasped in front of him. "Sand has found what is wrong with her." He shifted uncomfortably and would not look her in the eyes.

"Elanee, as it stands, will die." he said. "She is in a state of ... suspension... I think he said... called_ Poen Evfe'rea_" His pronunciation didn't sound completely elvish, but it was close. He could hear Sand's words in his mind... _'The condition occurs when one is horrifically injured or damage, and to preserve life processes' _He wished Sand hadn't refused to explain this to the tiefling_ 'Magical healing of the usual sort, will heal the body, but cannot restore the mind.' _Godfric swallowed hard and continued "Her mind is locked in there somewhere, Neeshka. Her body will live on like a cocoon or a vessel of some sort, until either she is killed, or..." he trailed off.

"Oh 'Fric." Neeshka said quietly. She knew he'd lost so much already, and he blamed himself for all that had befallen them. And she knew he felt obligated to Elanee. "We won't abandon her here. I'll help you with this." she gently told him. Godfric had closed his eyes. And his mouth was moving silently. He opened them again and looked deeply into hers.

He spoke again, in a low monotone. "She will remain like this, Neeshka, until she is killed, or..." his voice was cracking. "...or until our child is born."

---

Sand heard the tiefling's unnatural shriek and mournful howl. Obviously the harbourman had given her the good news, and given the ensuing silence that followed, she was taking all this much better than he had expected. He sat next to the druidess and held a hand to her cheek. Poor oblivious Elanee, he sighed. He wondered if she could have not known she was in her fertile cycle when she had slept with the harbourman. Unlikely. It had probably been her intention to carry the Harbourman's child. Sand was surprised though, that she had not told Godfric. He was obviouly blindsided by the news. Among his people, It was considered truly inconsiderate to take such a step without the consent of the other parent. _'Maybe the Wood Elves have different sensibilities.'_ He thought.

He was troubled by the fact that Elanee would have entered _Poen Evfe'rea _so early in a pregnancy. Only two days after conception was unheard of, so far as Sand knew. It was a puzzle he would have to figure out another time, or, if they could, they could return her to her people, and they could assist her themselves.

Sand rolled up a cloak for a pillow and lay down to try to sleep. There would be a lot of spells to cast in the next day, an he needed his rest.With a wave, he extinguished the magelights hovering overhead. He stared off into the darkness, visualizing the magic sigils and symbols he would invoke the next day. In the distance, he could hear the tiefling sobbing uncontrolably. He felt a fleeting pang of regret for Neeshka and her predicament, but then it passed. He shut his eyes and smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

---

Godfric stumbled through the darkness, following the sound of Neeska's fitful sobs. His head throbbed, and his right eye was swelling shut. He didn't think Neeshka had meant to hit him so hard, but that rationalization didn't help the fact that his head pounded like a dwarven forge. Blood trickled down his face from his brow and the salty tang was on his lips. The harbourman called her name quietly as he approached the place where he could hear her crying. He reached out for her. She flinched away as he touched her shoulder.

"Hells! Get away from me Godfric!" she growled at him. He paused a moment, searching for some words that could make this right. Her use of his whole name told him how upset she was.

He manuvered around in front of her and sat on the ground, facing her in the dark. Godfric hated not being able to see anything. This damnable darkness was so frustrating. He sat quietly for a moment.

"I told you to leave 'Fric" She grumbled.

"I can't leave." Godfric told her quietly. "Do you remember what I promised you?" he asked. He looked for some sign in the darkness. He heard her sob and sniffle. "Neeshka, I've so rarely made promises, because a promise is so easy to break. Sometimes promises hurt worse than betrayal, because our dreams ride on those words." He paused pressing his knuckles together.

"Fric, it was a silly promise. You don't have to keep it. Just go." Neeshka was trying to sound hardened, never one to let weakness get the better of her. She got her sobbing under control, but her breath was still ragged .

He smiled. "Neeshka, I'm not going anywhere right now. So just listen to me." He told her firmly " I told you I love you, and I promised that nothing would get in the way of that." He felt himself becoming more confident with each word. "My promise is my oath to you. I swear I will not let anything stop me from loving you."

"Well 'Fric..." Neeshka began to mournfully weep again. "This is a pretty big something. Its huge. I don't know if I can deal with all this right now."

"I understand." he said "And I would leave it up to you if you want no more part of me. Right now, I don't know where to go from here. " He dropped his eyes. "I'm lost here, and I'm looking for a direction."

He lifted up his eyes again. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "Please believe me Nish'." he whispered "I love you more than anything. If I lose you... " he faltered and couldn't continue.

Neeshka stared at him through the darkness. She could see plainly the tears trickling down his face. She could see the worry and anxiousness. She looked into his eyes and saw a pleading haunted look. She saw the only man she ever trusted completely, asking her for her trust. "Godfric..." she whispered to him.

"Can you forgive me?" he pleaded.

Neeshka reached forward and traced his injured eye gently with her fingertips. She clasped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close, leaning her head into his breast. His arms folded around her too. She began to cry quietly in his embrace. This was the man she loved. And in spite of everything the world was throwing at them, they would be all right.

Godric swept Neeshka into his arms, and lifted her up almost effortlessly. He turned on the spot, swinging her slowly in a circle.

"I'm going to need your help Nish'" he said. "I need to find which way to go."

She smiled at him. "As long as I still breathe Godfric, I'll be here for you. I love you." She snuggled back into his shoulder.

"I love you too, Neeshka," Godfric grinned. " but I need to know the way back. Sand put the lights out," he said "and I have no idea which direction it is..."

---


	7. Chapter 7

This darkness, for six days, had been their whole world. A black featureless plain. With nothing to discern one direction from another.

Godfric listened absently as Sand muttered incantations and drew arcane patterns in the air with his fingertips. Smoke rose from a makeshift brazier and swirled around them, as arcane globes of light floated in the air. The elf had said he could find the pathway back between the worlds and return them to Faerun. So far, it seemed like an exercise in futility. He wanted to ask the mage whether he had made any progress, but everytime he had so far, Sand had gone near round the bend with impatient frustration.

Turning from Sand, he knelt to observe Elanee's prone form, and again was rather disconcerted by the twitching and darting of her sightless eyes. The elf woman showed no sign of reaction to anything, but convulsed occaisionally.

Godfric rose and turned away. Neeshka had gone off in this direction, he was sure of it. He slowly made his way through the damnable darkness.

"Neeshka?... " he called out in a whisper.

"'Fric you really need to learn how to listen..." Neeshkas said giggling as she appeared beside him as if from nowhere in the darkness. Godfric startled just a little, but recovered quickly and snaked his arms around her waist and lifted her against himself. She responded with a little squeal and then wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. He kissed her gently at first, and then more fervently as she responded in kind.

Neeshka broke away from their kiss, "Do you think he can do it? Can we go home?" She nuzzled and kissed his neck. "I really, really want to go home 'Fric..." She said giggling.

Godfric didn't answer right away. He breathed deeply as Neeshka's kisses sent a tingle down his neck. Finally he half groaned, "He'd better be able to, If anyone could figure it out, it's him." He leaned into her, kissed her cheek and slowly worked his way down her neck to her collarbone. Her fingers entwined themselves in his hair as she pressed him towards herself. He worked his way below her collarbone.

Laughter brought them out of their passionate haze, and drew their attention back to Sand. They moved towards the spot Sand was set up, and could see him grinning broadly as he packed up his spell books.

The Elf saw them approach. He clapped his hands and unnaturally, for him, happily beamed, "Well, my fine companions, I'm sure we could all stand a few more weeks of just eachother's company, but I think it is time we prepared to leave." He began to stuff his belongings into his pack. "I'll need an hour to prepare the spells, so get yourselves ready. Surprisingly simple, the solution." He said nonchalantly. "I was trying to work out how to plane shift, not a spell I've ever even attempted to cast, "The mage dusted off his hands, "when it occurred to me, I have a spell I've often used that would work in this case."

Godfric was elated at the news, but Neeshka wondered aloud, "If you use the spell that often, why did it take so long to think of? We could have been home days ago..." she rushed over and hugged the elf all the same.

"Please, personal boundaries..." the mage said, in response to being violently squeezed, but he still smiled. "It's not a spell for travelling, as such." He was pulling a particular spellbook from his pack, and searched through his pouches until he produced a gold ring with a green inset stone. He held the ring in his hand, but made no move to put it on. It banishes a creature to it's originating plane of existance. I will have to send us back one at a time, and then I will manage," he tossed the ring in that air, and caught it,"to send myself home as well."

---

Godfric fidgeted with the dwarven belt at his waist. Upon Sand's suggestion, they had retrieved the Ironfist artifacts from Kelghar to return to his clan. The hammer proved difficult, as it could not even be lifted without the gloves and belt, so now, Godfric wore the dwarf's gear and carried the massive hammer. Sand had been adamant about it for some reason, and had willingly come with them to within range of the foul stench of decomposition given off by their deceased friend. Godfric was a little leery about Sand's sudden willingness to tolerate such an odour, but he was not about to argue with their only passage home.

"Are we ready, glorious leader?" Sand said all too giddily, "Whom should I send along first?"

Godfric hadn't thought on this yet, but immediately responded. "Send Neeshka first." He looked at the tiefling who returned a rather alarmed look at him. "You're certain we will all end up in the same place?"

Sand grimaced at that. "I am fairly certain..." he said, "But these things are never exact. As well, the tiefling is not even positive she was born on the same plane as the rest of us. I'd certainly hate to send her to the Abyss by accident, or somewhere in the nine hells." Neeshka looked extremely alarmed now, "I make no absolute guarantees other that we will end up somewhere else, and not here."

Without any hesitation, Sand gestured in Neeshka's direction, "_Ai Shalor O Thys Sor Aezoraeli..._"He spoke the arcane words, and Neeshka vanished with a flash of white light.

"Sand!!" Godfric shouted, "How could you send her off without knowing for sure..."

Sand gestured again. "_Ai Shalor O Thys Sor Aezoraeli..._" Godfric felt as if though his insides froze solid. His breath was caught in his chest, and he could feel bile rising in his throat. White light flashed, and he felt as it though he was crushed and rebuilt in an instant. He felt like he was trying to breathe under water. Water that tasted of peat and rotting plant matter... Like he was drowning in a swamp.

He would realize, momentarily, that he was breathing in swamp water. He coughed and choked, and righted himself, gasping for breath as he spluttered to the surface. The surface of the Mere of Dead Men.

As he gasped harshly drawing air into his lungs finally, he was hit square in the chest by something that wrapped itself around him and squeezed for all it's might. A gout of swamp water was expelled from his lungs as he was squeezed, and be drew ragged breaths as a sobbing tiefling hung around his neck crying for joy.

---

Sand smiled as Godfric dissappeared from sight. They would thank him later, if this worked, and otherwise, he would probably never see them again anyway. Now to matters at hand.

He turned to the supine form of the Elf druidess lying before him.The options before him were rather grim. He knew that her current state, was for the protection of her unborn child. But there were complications. He hadn't discussed them with Godfric because of the attachment the man had with the druid and, of course, the unborn child.

It was not common knowledge that women who were with child were endangering the unborn foetus should they be subjected to strange magics. And this one had been put through the whole gamut. Shapechanging, healing, planar travel, and now this. Sand knew that those whose help they would need to save Elanee's life would recoil at the possibilty of what may become of this child _should it survive_...

Sand looked at her and grim determination set in.

"_Os Jhori Ael Bym_" he chanted, and a greenish flash illuminated the area for a moment. Elanee stiffened and relaxed. Still as death...

"_Ai Shalor O Thys Sor Aezoraeli..._" He cast the spell of banishment again. Elanee seemed to sink away into the ground and vanished.

Sand turned away, and he cursed himself. He abhored killing unnescessarily, but this was mercy wasn't it? "One foul deed today, deserves another." he said as he turned towards the dwarf's corpse and barely kept himself from gagging. He knelt beside Kelghar and slipped the gold ring he'd been carrying on the dwarf's finger. He put a silver coin on the dwarf's forehead, and placed a black gemstone into his mouth. He began to gesture and chant.

"_Vori Sai Ialori, Vori Eil Shar Bol Taeresi, Vori Eil Thaer Ol Jhori, Soli Ol Paer_"

The corpse of the dwarf quivered and began to rise off the floor to a standing position. Gaping sockets with dessicated eyes looked blindly, but not unseeing at Sand.

Sand looked with revulsion at the walking corpse in front of him. "Use the ring, " he instructed simply. Then he began to gesture again...

"_Ai Shalor O Thys Sor Aezoraeli..._" The white light burst around the two, and finally settled around the mage, reflecting back from the power of the ring. Then the Dwarf stood alone, and remained that way until he eventually fell to dust around his own boots.

---

Sand thrashed in the water, and finally felt himself tugged upwards by a strong hand on his collar. He found himself spluttering and looking at Godfric who was, like him, soaking wet and covered head to toe in filth from the swamp. The smell of stagnant water and peat assailed his nostrils, but was a welcome break from the decay of flesh.Godfric hauled the elf bodily onto a nearby hillock and sat down heavily as he climbed out of the water.

Sand suddenly recieved a violent hug from a similarly muddy and soiled tiefling, and with it a great kiss on the cheek. Godfric gave him a punch on the shoulder and a broad grin. No one spoke, or even felt the need to. Sand felt like he would laugh out loud. His face split into a wide grin, until he noticed the druidess lying twitching next to them all on the hillock.

"She's... not dead... " Sand spluttered before catching what he was saying... "at least..." he recovered a little. "I was worried the shock might have killed her... " He frowned. His spell would have dropped a bull gorgon. It certainly should have finished the druid. He became increasingly concerned about the child growing within her womb.

Neeshka answered him. "'Fric and I thought she was dead for a minute... we didn't even find her right away. She sank like a stone." The tiefling delighted in rapidfire, one sided conversations... "But once we got her out of the water, she was back to her normal self... I mean... her twitchy, staring, creepy, normal self..."

Sand forced a smile but inwardly was cursing the day he was born. Now he had added a healthy dose of death magic to the mix. This couldn't bode well for the child..

---

Two days were spent slogging through the swamp before even a trail could be found that would at least keep their feet dry. Sand seemed as if he was going to wilt and constantly complained of the smell. Godfric had pulled countless leeches from his own body, as had the others. The vermin avoided Elanee for some reason though. When they finally found a dry path, they wasted no time in building a fire for warmth, and practically collapsed from exhaustion. A few mushrooms had to suffice for a meal.

In the morning, better rested and finally dry, they headed south. If Godfric was correct, they were on the south end of the Mere. They traveled southwest looking for the road Godfric knew ran through these parts. It seemed like the swam had no end at all.In fact, they almost hiked right accross the path without seeing it. The road was overgrown as it had apparently seen little travel lately. They turned south hoping to find some sign of civilization. Twice they lost the road as it submerged beneath the swamp. But they managed to find their way. Shadows were growing long as they saw a light in the distance. A building appeared through the shadows and mist. A signpost in front told them this was the Murdered Manticore Inn.

---

The Inn's tavern was busy. Apparently merchants had discovered the routes through the Mere were open once again. A hulking man behind the bar gladly took their coin for the last room in the place, and gestured to the stairs. Nervous eyes followed the trio as they carried their catatonic friend up the stairs. The small room afforded a couple of pallets on the floor. Elanee was arrayed on one of the pallets while Sand knelt to meditate nearby. Godfric laid his aching bones down on the other pallet, and beckoned Neeshka to lay down beside him. He wistfully reached out and stroked her cheek with a gentle touch. He blinked dumbly and his eyes fluttered shut. Sleep took him in an instant. Neeshka leaned close to him and softly kissed his neck. She smelled the familiar scents of the mere upon him again. Not unlike when they first met.

The Tiefling glanced over at the wizard whose head now drooped low. He looked as if he would topple over. Neehska rose and caught the elf, gently lowering him to the pallet. He looked so peaceful in sleep. The tension that had filled his countenance for so long now was erased. Neeshka smiled and gently kissed his forehead. She muttered a quiet thankyou to the elf that she was not sure she could have managed if he had been awake.

---

Neeshka slipped from the room as Godfric and Sand both slept.. She wandered down to the inn's common room, and slid in behind a table in the corner.When the barmaid approached, Neeshka ordered some soup, usually the safest bet in an unfamiliar place. When it arrived, it smelled decent, and had large pieces of potatoes and vegetables. Steam rose from it in a soothing haze.

She sat and sipped the soup from her spoon, just savouring having real food to eat, and a half decent bed to sleep in that waited for her upstairs. She looked around at the few people who remained in the common room at this late hour. Normal, average, everyday folk who probably had no idea about the King of Shadows, or how close any of them came to death. _'Lucky fools...' _ the tiefling thought. She slurped up the last of the soup, and smiled wistfully deciding she would go back up and slide into the bed with Godfric. Sand be damned. He could complain in the morning. Not having separate rooms available was more and more of a pain.

Neeshka paid the barmaid, and proceeded back upstairs. A flicker of movement caught her eye. Too late, she realized it was someone lying in ambush on the landing at the top of the stairs..

Someone in a dark cloak grabbed Neeshka throwing her to the ground, and held a knife to her throat almost before she could breathe. Her attackers face was covered save for the yellow eyes.

_The yellow eyes..._

"Hello lover,"Bishop snarled, "fancy meeting you here..."


End file.
